General Info

Characters:

Thomas: Thomas is the main character of the book. He was the newest boy to arrive in the Maze and therefore has been nicknamed Greenie. He came in a box along with other supplies just like boys come every month. He looks sixteen years old and is the most curious boy of the lot. His curiosity drives him crazy because he knows nothing about the Maze and is hungry for knowledge. This is because before he came, his entire memory had been erased, just like everyone else. He feels like he has been to the maze before and has a strong desire to become a runner. Many think his bad because wherever he goes bad fortune seems to follow. However he is a good guy, loyal and strong at heart.

Quote: Chuck, I... I think I've been here before. (pg. 35)"
Teresa: Teresa arrived at the camp one day after Thomas. It's strange because boys only arrive every month and this girl had arrived completely off schedule. She arrived passed out with a crumpled note in her hand saying: She's the last one. Ever. During most of the book she is in a coma yet all of the boys seem to have fallen for her even before she wakes. She is beautiful and intelligent and Thomas thinks he has a mysterious connection to her.
Quote: "Everything is going to change. (pg. 57)"

Chuck: Thomas' only real friend who seems to follow him around everywhere though there seems to be a three years age difference. He isn't good at much and has the job of a slopper. He was the new boy at the glade before Thomas and seemingly had no friends before Thomas arrived. He is very talkative and kind at heart.
Quote: "Can I come? (pg. 41)"

Alby: The leader of the group the oldest and haze been trapped in the maze for the longest. He is irritable yet at the same time very caring. It appears that his main goals is to maintain order of the glade and make sure all the gladers are doing their jobs. He is Thomas's guide throughout the beginning of the book.
Quote: "Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade. (pg.4)"

Newt: Newt appears to be the second in charge and is very friendly. He cares a lot for everyone and hates to see them break rules or put themselves in danger. He used to be a runner until he injured himself, the event, whatever it was, traumatized him deeply.
Quote: "Don't do it Tommy! Don't you bloody do it! (pg. 112)"

Gally: He seems like a very angry boy who thinks that there is something very suspicious about Thomas. Who he remembers form the changing (being stung by a griever). He doesn't seem to like anyone but has a special hatred for Thomas.
Quote: "I've... seen you shank. Not too many in these parts can sy they've been stung.(pg 18)"

Minho: Minho was one of the first people to arrive at the maze. He is an Asian boy and is quite intelligent. He is the lead runner and is a cheeky yet nice guy and everyone seems to like him. Even Alby respects him.
Quote: "I can barely talk, shuck-face! Get me some water! (pg. 81)"

Grivers: They aren't main characters but it is important to know that they are extremely dangerous and hideous animal-machines that live inside the maze. They can sting or kill depending on your luck.
Quote: "whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr click-click-click whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrr click-click-click (pg. 127)"

Setting:

Time: Distant future, far distant. Further ahead than books like the Feed, and possibly Hunger Games, yet before those like Gathering Blue.

Place: The place in which the hunger games is quite complicated to explain. The setting for most of the book is in the Maze. The maze is divided into nine areas simliar to a tic-tac-toe bored. There are no known exits so you could imagine a closed tic-tac-toe bored. In the very center of the board there is something called the Glade. The other eight parts are part of the maze which the gladers (people of the glade) are trying to solve. The glade quite big, more than a few football fields and it is similar to a village. Inside the glade all the gladers go about doing their jobs and keeping themselves alive and keeping order. There are four general areas, homestead, where there are rooms for the gladers though most sleep outside, deadheads, a foresty corner wehre the graves are, and the blood house, where farm animals are butchered, and gardens, where the food grows. Remember the lines of of the tic tac toe board? Well, the ones that surround the middle square are massive never-ending walls. They stretch so hight that you cannot see the top and every day they open so gladers can enter the maze and every night they close so that nothing outside can enter the glade. Inside the maze, everything is quite green yet behind all they ivy of the walls of the maze, there is stone. Similar to a corn maze, with walls covered in ivy instead of hedges. However there are a few more things. In the maze at night the hideous grievers always come out. This means that if you get locked out of the maze you are toast. Addtionally,the walls of the maze move every night making the maze hard to solve.

Mood: Most of the book has the characters confused, angered for being put into the maze, and desperate to get out.

Discussion Prompt 1

1.The Maze Runner is often compared by critics to The Hunger Games. What similarities did you see between the two books? How were they different? Which book did you prefer?
The Maze Runner and the Hunger games have a lot of similarities and differences. First of all the similarities were that they are all held in the distant future. Both books have things that do not exist today but could happen in the future. Also, another similarity is that all citizens or in the Maze Runner children and from the Hunger Games the families and children are all trapped in this land. In the maze runner, the children are captured in a place called the Glade which is surrounded by walls that close every night. Also, they have a maze outside which makes it hard for them to escape. On the other hand in the Hunger Games, people are kept in their own district and every year in the annual hunger games, the chosen ones go to a place called the Arena which is also a place that is not freely open. In either worlds, they are being looked at and controlled by other people. In the Maze Runner they are looked by a beetle and in the Hunger Games, they are watched over all. In contrast, the differences of these two books are that the people who are trapped in the Glade are only children and also only boys until the last and only girl came. However, in the Hunger Games, in each district there are families who live there.

2.The author gives readers information about life in the Glade very slowly and in small bits, keeping readers in the dark for much of the book. Why do you think Dashner chose to tell the story this way? Were you frustrated by the lack of information?
Dashner is an author who didn't like a lot of information in the introduction, but more of the information came out as the book carried on. Even though he wouldn't tell us the information, we could know more and more about the things every other chapter. It leaves the reader hanging and wanting to know more and more about what happens about the information about the Glade itself or the people there too. Since its the perspective of Thomas, and because he was new to the glade we had to just follow around and only know what he knew. The later he would know more and it would me the same for us, we wouldn't know anything until he knew too. I think that the lack of information is what kept me read more without putting the book down. I think that Dashner was focusing on more of the survival part than the actually life of the Glade. Also, we think that the more we read the darkness of the book the more we would like to read the book. Even though there was a lack of information we could predict what was going to happen.

3.Why did the Creators choose to wipe the boys’ memories before sending them to the Glade?
We think that the Creators chose to wipe everyone's memories because they would have known that if they didn't there would be a lot of problems. For example, the boys would want to go home and also they would try and remember what had happened to them before they ended up in the glade. In page 73, Ben says "He's not one of us! I saw him- he's... he's bad. We have to kill him! Let me gut him!" Also, "He'll wanna take us home. He'll wanna get us out of the Maze. Better we all jumped off the Cliff! Better we tore each other's guts out!" These quotes gives us a certain idea about how getting stung by a griever and going through the change can effect them. Ben was saying this because he remembered something from the past. This is one of the reasons why the Creators wiped their brains. Just in case they would remember things and try and find a way out or to know who the Creators are.

4.Residents of the Glade developed their own, unique way of speaking over time. Why did they develop their own words to describe everyday objects and experiences? Did the Gladers’ language affect your reading of the book? How?
We think that the reason that they have developed their own language is because since their memories are erased, they would make their own words to describe what they thought things would be. They all had basic memory, but not enough. For example "Klunk" means "Poop" and they made up the word Klunk based on the sound poop makes when it hits the toilet, as it says in the first chapter of the book. In the beginning, It was a bit difficult to understand, but because the usage of this dialect is constant through out the book, it became very simple.

5.The residents of the Glade are teenage boys and they have no adult supervision, but they spend their days diligently working in their assigned areas. Why are they so responsible? In the middle of the book, when Newt was taking Thomas around the farm and introducing him to the keeper, he said if everyone was lazy and sad then everyone would just give up. Also, there are people who are referred to as the leaders who tend to keep things in place. For example, when Ben was trying to kill Thomas, Alby immediately came and broke the whole thing up, he had the power to kill Ben without anyone stopping him.

Discussion Prompt Two:

1. In a book dominated by male characters, the arrival of the female character seemed a hugely important plot point. What did you think about the girl’s role in the story
It was a surprise to us to find a girl coming into the glade instead of a guy, However, it didn't surprise us because she came only after 2 days Thomas had arrived which didn't normally happen. However, it was more interesting for us that she was a girl and that she was the last person to be delivered to the glade. Not only the fact that a girl showed up, but the fact that she had the note that said "She is the last one. Ever." It was quite interesting because obviously they were trying to make a point, because they sent a girl, and she was the last one.



2. What was Thomas’ connection to Teresa?
Teresa and Thomas had a telepathic connection. They could reach each other even know they were not together. They just had conversations with each other normally with what they call a 'gift.' They used it to talk about what was happening on either side. So, if Teresa would want to know if Thomas found anything she would talk to him and the same would happened with Thomas too. However, them two are the only ones who know that they have these 'gifts.' They didn't tell others so its only a secret within only Thomas and Teresa.




3. The Runners continued to explore the Maze every day, despite the fact that they hadn’t found a way out in over two years. Why did they keep running the maze and making maps?
If there is a way in, there is a way out. They knew that everyday the maze changed more and more. Some days it could have been easier, some days it could have been harder. Also, after Thomas arrived, everything changed, it was now more important that they were able to find a way out of the maze. The people just always had hope and a belief that there would be a way out if they kept trying harder and harder. Also, they thought that while making the maze there would be a pattern or clue that could help them go back home.



4. Describe the Grievers. What purpose did they serve in the Maze?
The Grievers were the beasts that lurked around the maze at night. They were about the size of a cow, and it was part machine, part beast, and part animal. It has weapons on its arms and knifes, and things that if you touched, you could die in an instant. Every night, the maze changes. If the runners are not back by nightfall, they are in danger. As soon as night falls, the Grievers come out. Its kind of to ward off runners from being in the maze too late. Also,

5. What happens during the Changing? How are the victims different once they’ve been through the Changing?
During the changing, the victims go through a flash back. Everyone of them has seen their past and also everyone has seen Thomas related to it. They say that bad things are going to happen and that it was all Thomas's fault. They all claim that it was Thomas who created them and it was him who did this to them.

What did Gally see during his Changing?



6. Do you think the memories the Grievers’ victims recover during the Changing are true? Why or why not?
I think that overall they do recover but during the changing is what effects them in their thinking because they get these things like flashbacks which first hits them then after the changing they recover. However, even though they recover they still remember what they saw in the flashback. We can say its both and both because they do become normal but in return they remember horrible things that they saw in the changing.


7. .What were the Creators hoping to accomplish with the experiment? Were their actions justified by the circumstances caused by the Flares?




Solemn:
grave,sober,or mirthless,as a person,the face,speech,tone,or mood
Queasy:nauseous, feeling sick
Convulsing:
To shake or agitate violently
Hallucinations:
The objects or events so perceived

Nonperishable:
not subject to rapid deterioration or decay

Proceeding:
A course of action; a procedure
Scenario:
An outline of the plot of a dramatic or literary work
Hoisted:
To become raised or lifted
Quiver:
To shake with a slight, rapid, tremulous movement
Solidified:
To make solid, compact, or hard

Ponder:
To weigh in the mind with thoroughness and care

Calculated:
Determined by mathematical calculation